I've been trying to find out more about the history of my truck since I bought it. So far heres what I know. The truck was sold new in Wyoming in 76. For a long time it was a ranch truck and hauled gooseneck's. Then a soldier bought it and it made it's way off the ranch and to Ft. Sill. Then I got it. The soldier didn't take very good care of her and put 18 quarts of oil in her while she was running and blew out every seal imagineable. She left the assembly line with a 360, somewhere along the way a built 390 found it's way under the hood which the soldier fried. Then I put in a 1967 352. So that's three engines that I know of since 76. I also figure that somewhere in the past she was in a bad wreck because the wheelbase on the starboard side is 1/2 inch shorter than the port, and the radiator sits just a tiny bit cockeyed. She still tracks straight as an arrow. The overload springs tell me she hauled heavy loads for a long time. The big hole in the underneath the truck gas tank tells me she was used and abused off road and she came to me with a 50 gallon in bed steel tank. The behind the seat tank was removed to make room for stereo equipment which was stolen along the way. So as far as I can tell my truck had a fairly hard life but she still starts everytime, drives great, and is rock solid off-road. That's built Ford tough.

 

Sounds like your truck is a testament to tough having done all of that with abusive owners and still going strong.

I know what you mean by a "ranch truck". Most of them live short lives when compared to other trucks. I have an Oklahoma 76 F100 farm truck and was on it's way to being a used up shell untill a young kid blew the original 360 engine up. Lucky for me he was not mechanically inclined, so the truck was set aside and sold.

So, what are your plans for this tough and reliable truck? It seems to have earned some attention.

 

Plans? Well first thing it's getting is a 4130 Chromoly roll cage built to exceed SCORE specs with Corbeau suspension seats and Simpson 5 point harnesses. Then once I get my settlement check a Ford Racing 514 crate motor is getting shoved under the hood. Gonna keep the NP435. T-case will be changed over to a Rockwell unit and she'll also get Rockwell axles with 4 wheel hydraulic steering. All the rust will be fixed, body straightened, painted orange, then protected by a DOM .120 wall exo cage. A helluva sound system, 150 gallon in bed tank, 4 link suspension all the way around, custom bumpers with a Mile Marker 12,000 pound hydraulic up front, and a Ramsey Patriot 15,000 pound electric in the back. Frame will be fully boxed. I'm expecting a substantial settlement check so I'll probably have Rock n' Roll Off Road in the Falls build my dream truck. Then I'll wheel it til the 53 inch Michelins on double beadlocks fall off.

EDIT: I don't know if there are any hardcore purists on here. Let me just state that restored trucks are cool but I bought this as a off-roading machine.

 

Wow, that's quite a plan! I could only wish to have the finances for such a project as yours.

I know my screen name appears that I might be a strict ford parts only purist but I'm not that picky. I am a Ford drivetrain only in a Ford vehicle guy though! I don't care if it is a an engine used in a tank as long as it was made by Ford. To me it is not really a Ford if it's heart isn't Ford.